Sometimes you've got to go down to go Upson - Hammers defender so glad he left Arsenal

Not many players would consider leaving Arsenal as a good career move but it has worked for Matthew Upson.

The 29-year-old defender’s failure to make a real impact after five seasons and 34 senior appearances at the Gunners must have been difficult to accept but it says much for Upson’s character that he has learned much from those early disappointments.

On Sunday Upson, who was England’s central defender alongside Rio Ferdinand for the World Qup qualifying victories against Kazakhstan and Belarus, lines up against his former club, now confident in his own ability to cope with whatever comes his way.

Staying ahead of the pack: Matthew Upson has no regrets about leaving Arsenal

After leaving Highbury, Upson initially dropped a level when he signed for Birmingham and after five seasons at St Andrews, he joined West Ham last January.

Upson said: 'Theo has a very solid head on his shoulders and he will need that because of the attention which will be focused on him. I’ve spent time with him though and he’s a very down-to-earth guy. I am sure he will be guided very well.'

West Ham team may have lost successive matches against Bolton and Hull but Upson has been impressed by the impact of new manager Gianfranco Zola.

'The last couple of results have been disappointing,' he said. 'They were two matches which we perhaps should have won but didn’t so now we need to win a couple that we’re not expected to do well in.

'It’s a fine line and the results haven’t happened recently but we should remember we’re still trying to adapt to the manager’s way of doing things so the results are not going to be instant.

'The players are capable of playing the way the manager wants but it’s just a case of getting into the habit of doing things in a different way.

'He wants to find solutions. He’s a fresh, very positive, animated kind of guy, very approachable and a good man to work for.

'We know we have a real job on our hands this weekend though. In terms of passing and moving, which is what attacking play is all about, Arsenal are probably the best in the League.'

Matthew Upson was speaking on a visit to the Braintree Rethink Carers Support Group, winners of a £4,000 grant from the Premier League’s ‘Creating Chances Places for Players’ - an initiative which uses players to highlight the community work carried out by the 20 Premier League clubs.

Gloom: Matthew Upson (No.2) insists West Ham should be beating teams like Hull

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Sometimes you've got to go down to go Up-son - Hammers defender so glad he left Arsenal